Creamy Tarragon Chicken Salad
This Tarragon Chicken Salad recipe is made with a creamy mayo-based dressing, crunchy celery and pecans, and juicy red grapes. It’s the perfect chicken salad for a spring brunch or a light summer meal and can be made with store-bought rotisserie chicken to save time!
This Chicken Salad with Grapes and Tarragon Is a Long-Time Favorite!
If you’ve never used tarragon before, it’s a delicate herb that looks kind of like rosemary and has a sweet anise flavor (if you like fennel, you’ll love tarragon!).
Tarragon is such a unique flavor in this chicken salad recipe and is so fresh tasting. The green flecks in the sauce add some nice visual interest to a dish that often looks bland, and the grapes add a nice sweetness in contrast to the savory creamy tarragon sauce.
You can serve this tarragon chicken salad recipe in a variety of ways, my favorite being to serve it over a bed of leafy greens for a simple protein-packed lunch on busy days. I’ve been making this tarragon grape chicken salad every summer since I don’t know when, and I think you’re going to love it!
Enjoy!
-Katie
Ingredient Notes
I’ve provided the full list of ingredients with their measurements in the recipe card below, but I wanted to quickly touch on the key items you’ll need and substitutes you can use in a pinch.
- Chicken Breasts — You can grill, poach, roast, or cook the chicken in a slow cooker. I’ll often cook the chicken the day before assembling the chicken salad while I’ve got something else going for that night’s dinner.
- French Tarragon — Has a sweet, slightly peppery, licorice-esque flavor that’s hard to describe.
- Lemon Juice — Brights up the tarragon dressing and prevents it from tasting heavy.
- Sour Cream + Mayonnaise — Using just sour cream makes the dressing too tangy, and use just mayo makes it heavy. Using both creates a rich and creamy tarragon dressing that lightly coats the chicken.
- Green Onions — Have a milder bite than red or yellow onion, so they won’t overwhelm the tarragon.
- Celery — Adds tons of crunch!
- Grapes — I used purple seedless grapes, but you could use green grapes or a combination of the two if you like. Just make sure they’re seedless.
- Pecans — If you have a pecan allergy, try substituting almonds, walnuts or hazelnuts in place of them. Or, simply omit the nuts all together.
Want to Use Canned Chicken? That’s Okay Too!
You can definitely substitute a high quality canned chicken in place of cooking boneless, skinless chicken breast when making this chicken salad recipe.
Using canned chicken isn’t my preferred way to prepare this recipe, but the substitution works in a pinch if you are out of chicken breast or short on time. For best results, make sure to fully drain the canned chicken when using it as a substitute in this recipe!
How to Make Tarragon Chicken Salad
- Brine the chicken breasts. You’ll make a a simple salt water brine to brine the chicken breast for just 30 minutes. This helps season the chicken and keep it moist!
- Bake, then let rest. After brining, you’ll bake the chicken seasoned with black pepper and fresh tarragon. When the chicken has cooked through (165ºF), let it rest for 10 minutes and then cube or shred (here’s the easiest way to shred chicken).
- Make the tarragon dressing. I prefer using my food processor to blend the dressing ingredients together. You could also chop the green onions and tarragon very finely then whisk everything together with a fork.
- Mix to combine. Add the dressing to the shredded chicken and fold in the celery, grapes, and pecans.
The above is simply a quick summary of this recipe. Check out the full recipe in the free printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for all the detailed instructions.
Ways to Serve It
I love that there are so many ways that you can serve this tarragon chicken salad recipe! Here are 6 of my favorite ways to serve this recipe:
- Serve a scoop of this chicken salad on top of a bed of greens.
- Serve it inside lettuce cups (I like butter, bib, or iceberg lettuce best) to make an amazing gluten-free chicken salad wrap.
- For a traditional chicken salad sandwich, serve this tarragon chicken salad on a buttery croissant or between 2 slices of your favorite bread.
- Fill baked wonton cups with a scoop of this chicken salad for easy bite-sized chicken salad appetizers.
- Cut the crusts off of thin white bread or pumpernickel bread and make fancy bridal or baby shower chicken salad sandwiches. After assembling them, cut the sandwiches into triangles.
- Serve alongside crackers or pita chips for scooping.
Make-Ahead Tips
This recipe offers plenty of opportunities to make preparation simple. Here are my favorite make ahead tips for this tarragon chicken salad recipe:
- Chicken — Can be cooked up to 2 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator. Alternatively, you can bake a batch of the chicken and store it in the freezer in portions for this recipe and take out what you need when you plan to make this creamy tarragon chicken salad.
- Tarragon dressing — Prepare the sauce up to a day ahead, and store it in the refrigerator.
- Grapes — Slice the grapes up to a day ahead. Store refrigerated.
- Pecans — Chop the pecans in advance.
Side Dish Suggestions
You can serve this tarragon and grape chicken salad as simply as you like. Try pairing it with one of the following sides or drinks for a complete summer meal.
- Potatoes — Perfect Baked Potatoes, Rosemary Garlic Roasted Potatoes, Grilled Sweet Potato Fries, Traeger Roast Potatoes
- Other Veggies —Grilled Zucchini and Squash, Cucumber Tomato Onion Salad, Grilled Asparagus, Garlicky Sauteed Kale
- Drinks — Cucumber Mint Water, Watermelon Mint Lemonade, Pineapple Coolers, Tangerine Raspberry Iced Tea
More Chicken Salad Recipes You’ll Love
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Creamy Tarragon Chicken Salad Recipe
Tarragon chicken salad is the perfect chicken salad for a spring brunch or a light summer meal serves on top of a plate of mixed greens.
Ingredients
For the Chicken
- 3 large boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 4 cups water
- 4 tablespoons kosher salt
- 1 stem fresh tarragon
- Black Pepper, to taste
For the Tarragon Dressing
- 2/3 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- fresh tarragon leaves from 2-3 stems
- 2 green onions, sliced thin
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
For the Mix Ins
- 2 ribs celery, diced
- 2 cups red seedless grapes, halved
- 1/3 cup pecans, chopped
Instructions
- Brine the chicken. Dissolve salt in water. Pour into a gallon sized ziplock bag. Submerge chicken in brining solution for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
- Bake the chicken. Remove the chicken from the brine and pat dry. Place on a large sheet of foil and sprinkle with black pepper. Place leaves from 1 stem of fresh tarragon all over the chicken. Fold the foil up. Bake for 45 minutes, or until chicken measures 160ºF with a meat thermometer.
- Let cool. Dice the chicken and set in refrigerator to cool.
- Make the tarragon dressing. Meanwhile, blend sour cream, mayonnaise, lemon juice, tarragon leaves, green onions, salt, and pepper in a food processor or blender. Stirring and scraping sides periodically.
- Assemble the chicken salad. Combine the dressing with the celery, grapes, and chilled chicken. Garnish with chopped pecans and serve over leafy greens or on a crossaint.
Notes
This chicken salad is best served within 3-5 days of making it. The best way to store this recipe is in an airtight container in your refrigerator. I don't recommend attempting to freeze it once it is assembled.
You will likely need to give it a stir before serving leftovers as some of the ingredients can release liquid during storage. This is nothing to worry about!
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 268Saturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gProtein: 16g
Winnie says
I was looking for a classic creamy tarragon chicken recipe and this is it. Delicious.
heartnsoulcooking says
What a wonderful salad, YUMMY!!! I love to have different chicken salads in my recipe box. So, guess where this one going. Geri
Megan says
yum, looks like a wonderful salad!
Hoosier Homemade says
Looks yummy! Thanks for sharing!~Liz
Ashley says
Found you through tastespotting…This looks good! It reminds me of a chicken salad I saw Ina make on one of her shows… she made one batch with tarragon and one batch without and had people taste test them to compare. Everyone loved the tarragon! I must try it!
Maria says
I love Sunflower Market, Lovely salad!